Watch Out!

By Alexis Glover

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Alexis Glover 9/17/12 Mrs. Zaich Essay #1 Slamming Down on Barbeque Barbeque may take time to cook, but its worth the wait because its so delicious. Seasoning all of the meats with black pepper, lemon pepper, and Worchester sauce is my favorite part. Smelling all of the seasonings marinate through the meats and into the air. I love pouring the beans in the pot with a hint of brown sugar and mustard. Smelling all of the sweetness swarming through out the kitchen makes me so hungry. Eating barbeque is mess but worth it. When I go outside I see all of my family gathered around playing dominos and dancing. I love watching my uncle put the first slab of ribs on the grill while watching everybodys eyes light. Listening to my sister yell five and my cousin yell ten in their game of dominos makes me laugh. Taking a little break to dance with my family to our favorite song called slow down then, hearing my aunties yell Alexis come on and help. My cousins and I start preparing the hot links and hot dogs ready to go on the grill. All of my little cousins know the routine when we put the hot dogs on that means go wash your hands and get ready to get one. The first person thats always ready to get her hot dog first is my cousin Arionna.

Glover3 Hearing my auntie Danielle say time to eat means time to eat. Everybody is lined up ready to throw down. Looking around seeing my cousins hands all barbequed up and there faces dirty brings a smile to my face. Listening to all of the smacking tells you that my family loves barbeque. The way my family barbeques makes you scrape every piece of meat and beans until your place is clean. After eating the main course of the meal we move on to the dessert. The main baker is my sister Lenique and my cousin Latifah. For there dessert they decided to bake some cake and cut some fruit. Eating the red, juicy watermelon was so good regardless of the juice run down your chin just from your first bite. After eating dessert its time to relax and play games. The kids normally play dominos, pool and dance while the adults talk. I always lose playing pool but come in second or first in a domino game. Once dominos get boring we dance to some hip hop music. Seeing my cousins dance makes me laugh especially when its my cousin Kiarah. As soon as we begin to get loud thats when the adults come down and start dancing with us. If you see my auntie Johnette dance you will laugh so hard your stomach will hurt. When its about ten oclock thats when we clean up everything and put the left overs up. After the clean up we say are goodbyes and everybody leaves the barbeque. Barbequing is a wonderful way to celebrate or gather around with your family. Getting down in the kitchen with your aunties and cousins is the fun part. Winning the domino games and dancing is the way to lose all the fat you gained.

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Alexis Glover 9/26/12 Mrs. Zaich Essay #2 Stopping the Mess, To Feel Blessed African Americans, Mexicans shouldve been respected the same way the Caucasian people were in the nineteen nines. Rosa Parks, a strong powerful African American that didnt take disrespect from a Caucasian. Caucasians thought was okay to call African Americans Negros or colored. I never knew its a crime to sit in the front of the bus. Not using violence is a way you can get your point across, gain respect, and to set a boundary. Rosa Parks got off of work to go home not to turn around and go to jail. Rosa Parks spotted out an empty seat on the front of the bus, being as tired as she was, she sat there. A Caucasian passenger got on the bus, turning to look at Rosa Parks, while calling the bus driver to have Rosa Parks removed. Rosa Parks refused to get up because she was tired of the discrimination. African Americans werent aloud to sit on the first eleven rows. If Caucasian passengers got on and the bus was filled African Americans would have to be removed from the bus. African Americans got on the bus from the back, the bus driver didnt want any contact with African Americans unless they had to give them there bus fair. That action leads to the bus boycott.

Glover5 Rosa Park got bailed out for fourteen dollars by her friend and the president of the NAACP. Shortly after Rosa Parks was bailed out of jail members of the black community were told about the boycott. The boycott consisted of changing the way African Americans were being treated on the bus, and that African American are hired as bus drivers too. Not only was Rosa Parks trying to make a change, all African Americans were. The boycott lasted for a grand total of 381 days. After being mistreated by the Caucasians, Rosa Parks wrote a book to express how she felt about the way African Americans were treated. I try to look at it in the eyes of the Caucasians to see what African Americans did wrong but I dont seem to know why. Personally I think it all started with the Caucasians having African Americans as there slaves. Not only that but it could have started with the KKK. African Americans were thrown in jail because a Caucasian man or woman called the police. It may not make sense but it was that simple. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. sacrificed there lives to make a change and for that African Americans are free. This probably just didnt go for African Americans it goes for all colored people. We can all say that we are free but whos to say that it wont happen again? Slavery still exists but in the United States of America youre aloud to be with any race you want. Rosa Parks have won a total of about 10 awards for the action she made and with the help of Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks not only inspired me but she inspired many others.

Glover6 Work Cited rosaparks.org/ www.rosaparksfacts.com www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/rosaparks/story.asp

Glover7 Alexis Glover 10/6/12 Mrs. Zaich Essay #3 Kwanzaa Kwanzaa is a week long celebration held in the United States and Canada honoring African American heritage and culture. Kwanzaa is celebrated different ways some with African drums, dancing, story telling or poetry. One candle is lit every evening honoring the seven principles. Once the candle is lit they gather around and discuss about the principle. The seven principles or Nguzo Saba are the principles created by Dr. Maulana Karenga. The first principle is unity / Umoja which means to strive for and maintain unity in your family, nation, community, and race. The second principle is self determination / Kujichagulia meaning to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves. The third principle is collective work and responsibility / Ujima which stands for build and maintain our community together and are brothers and sisters problems our problems and solve them together. The forth principle is cooperative economics / Ujamaa meaning build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together. The fifth principle is purpose / Nia which means to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. Creativity / Kuumba which is the sixth principle which means to do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it. Faith / Imani are the seventh principle meaning to believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and victory of our struggle.

Glover8 At Kwanzaa you not only have seven principles, you also have seven symbols. The first symbol is Mazao, the crops symbolizing work and the basis of their holiday. Mkeka, the place mat symbolizes the foundation for them to stand on. Vibunzi, the ear of corn represents fertility and symbolizes that through the future hopes of the family are brought to life. Mishumaa Saba / The seven candles which symbolizes the suns power to provide light. The Kinara / the candleholder which is my favorite which symbolizes the original stalk form which we came from our ancestry. Another symbol is the Kikombre Cha Umoja / the Unity Cup which symbolizes feast. The last symbol is the Zawadi / Gifts which symbolizes gifts. Learning about Kwanzaa made me question why my family doesnt celebrate it. I had to understand that I am not African, I am African American. My ancestors are African but my family isnt. Celebrating Christmas and thanksgiving is the same as celebrating Kwanzaa to the Africans. I am undecided if I am going to celebrate Kwanzaa with my children because I wasnt raised with it but I might celebrate it. Kwanzaa is a great celebration that the Africans do to worship the seven principles and the seven symbols. Its a week long celebration and on the last day you exchange gifts. Food is given to you on the sixth day and its a gathering through out the whole celebration.

Glover9 Work Cited www.history.com/topics/kwanzaa-history

Glover10 Alexis Glover Why does stereotypes have to always be mean? Why cant we get to know someone before we pass judgments? African Americans are portrayed as loving fried chicken, grape soda, watermelon, corn bread, and kool-aid. Are we as African Americans supposed to take offense immediately? When is our community going to stop continuing the stereotypes and take a stand? African Americans arent the only ones that have stereotypes or that eat certain food and beverages. Mexicans have stereotypes such as having twenty kids, always eating burritos and tacos, and Mexicans always being drunk. All these stereotypes do is cause peoples self esteem to go down. Stereotypes arent just about someones ethnicity, its about religion too. When people believe the stereotypes that go around they make a joke out of it instead trying to change it. Chineses stereotypes are that they cant see well, there small, and there horrible drivers. Whos to say that those are true? The typical saying is African Americans are all Christians, all Mexicans are Catholic, and that Chinese people worship Buddha. Thats one hundred percent false because twenty three percent of Mexicans are Christians. People that stereotype should make sure the have evidence before they pass judgments. Personally, I stereotype people or my own ethnicities because Im so used to hearing people doing it. I know almost everyone heard someone being called ratchet or ghetto. Those terms are normally towards African Americans but now people use them towards anyone. Just like the word nigga African Americans were called Negros but the community calls there friends the first n word now. Some people take offense to the word but how can people take offense to it but say it to there own friends?

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Glover11 Just like people take offense to people speaking Spanish if they dont understand it. Spanish may be someones first language and it may be difficult for them to speak in English. Some school dont allow you to speak Spanish in there class if they cant understand you. Most people think your talking bad about someone when you speak Spanish. Its like if an Indian started speaking English first then started speaking Punjabi, you would be shocked. The saying says except someone for who they are not for who there trying to be. If we really sit down and think about where stereotypes came from we should already know. Stereotypes came from us, the people in the world. The only way the stereotypes will stop is if the people change. If we can get the community to make a difference I think is should start with out stereotypes. I mean thats no the only problem with the community but that can be a start. Being true to who we are is important. Sticking together as a community, family and one is another important thing. The only way to make a difference is with yourself and your family. If we act a certain way at home its going to reflect with you at school or where ever else you go. Work Cited: www.nhclc.org, www.deathrattle.ash.com

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